Small Debts
by Billiebee3
Summary: She never wanted to owe him anything. If he didn't have to be such a damn hero it wouldn't be a problem. Same universe with no hunger games. Everlark
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: Here's the usual don't sue me...I don't own Hunger Games, etc. Obviously. This is AU, but still set in Hunger Games time period. I never saw any cars mentioned in district twelve and figure that wagons and buggies might have been more likely considering the districts lack of means/technology. Some details have been changed, but the characters' personalities are the same. I always try to stay very in character, so please let me know if you see anything OOC- because that drives me nuts and I'll want to immediately fix it.**

The wheels creak as they carry me over the rocks on the dusty dirt road. It is the middle of the day in the middle of July and, unsurprisingly, it was a scorcher outside. I used the cuff of my cotton sleeve to wipe off some of the sweat that had accumulated on my forehead so far on the ride and tried not to even think about the state of the icing on the wedding cake I was delivering. The cake was packed well in a box that had started the trip surrounded by ice, but all of that had long melted away onto the dry red dirt beneath me. Before I left the shop an hour ago, the thermometer outside read 102 degrees. By, now, it was no doubt hotter than that.

At first, when I saw it, I was convinced I was hallucinating from the heat. Some sort of rumpled heap towards the side of the road. But those mirages the heat produces tend to stay a certain distance away, while this heap was getting closer as the wagon approached. What was it? A dead deer, maybe? Trash someone left out? I almost stopped the wagon as I got closer when another wagon pulled up; some groomsmen from the wedding party.

"How's the cake holding up?" The older of the two asked, a man in his late twenties with dark hair and a beard.

"Well," I scratched my head and smiled "we'll see in a minute when I get down the road. Believe it or not, the back of this wagon was packed with ice."

"Oh, I can believe it." The man said. "Good luck to you then. We gotta head to town and pick up the flowers."

I smiled, thinking that they were in for an even more perilous mission than I. The younger man, also dark haired, piped in "the house you're looking for is just down the road. If you hurry, you'll be there in two or three minutes. I'd get some water before I let Miss Annie's mama see the state of that cake." I couldn't help but chuckle. However bad it is, I'll fix it once I get there. No ugly wedding cake would ever come out of my family's bakery.

I hummed to myself as I rode down the road a little ways longer before I stopped at the house. The cake wasn't that bad. Certainly not anywhere near as damaged as I had guessed. I quickly took out the extra tools I had brought for situations like this and fixed up the imperfections before handing it over to the mother of the bride to put where she'd like.

I smiled as she looked it over, obviously very pleased, and handed me my payment. "Every time I see one of your cakes I keep wondering when the capitol is going to come to snatch you away from us." The woman said, jokingly. I thanked her and told her to congratulate the couple for me again. I did not know them well, personally, but the family came off as nice enough.

It was on my way home that I began to see it again. The heap on the side of the road from earlier, still in it's same place. This time I did pull the wagon over as soon as I got close. It looked brown and leathery. A man's jacket of some kind. But there was also something underneath it. As I approached, a large circling buzzard seemed to get the same idea. Something was dead.

"Shoo! Shoo!" I yelled, flapping my arms to try to rid myself of the persistent scavenger. It probably thought I was trying to steal meat from it. I shook my head and lifted the jacket and then I immediately dropped it.

Katniss.

Suddenly I felt my body get ten times hotter inside, if that was even possible in this scorching heat wave. Was she dead? She couldn't be dead! Katniss, the girl I had gone to school with all my life. The girl whom I had thrown burnt bread at in the rain because I was too much a coward to just go outside and give them directly to her, my mother be damned. The pretty little girl whom my father had pointed out my first day of school and whom sang in assembly so beautifully that I still to this day replay it in my mind...was in a dirty heap on the side of the road, probably dead. I froze for a few precious seconds, unable to process the scene.

Then reality came back to me and I flew into action. If she wasn't already dead, she would be if I didn't help her. What was she doing out here? I didn't see any obvious injury. Okay, I knew I needed to take one step at a time. Was she breathing? Did she have a heartbeat? Without thinking, I put my hand over her heart, to try to feel for a beat. Relieved when I felt it, I hastily picked her up and ran with her back to the wagon. There was some water there, and without thinking I poured some over her face, praying that it would bring her back around.

"Peeta?" She chocked out, obviously too dehydrated to really talk. I held the half full cup of water up her mouth and watched as she guzzled it down, even though she was still clearly not completely conscious.

"What happened to you?" I ask before I can stop myself, still terrified that there was some sort of horrible injury that I couldn't see under all her hunting clothes.

"I'm fine." She barked out, her lips cracking and beginning to bleed as she formed the words.

I mentally kicked myself for not asking for more water. She really should keep drinking. I knew better than to ask her again, so I just started up the horse and threw an arm around her waist so she wouldn't fall from her position of laying half in the seat and half in my lap. I knew she was still really bad off when she didn't try to sit up or push my hand away.

I stopped at the first house I knew and refilled my cup. Delly seemed pretty concerned, but I didn't stay any longer than just to get the water and to thank her before turning my attention back to Katniss. What was it my father had told me? Small sips? I sat Katniss up against my side and tried to wake her up again. I wasn't very successful, but I did eventually get her to drink the full cup of water.

"What happened to her?" Delly asked.

I shook my head. "I don't know. I just found her on the side of the road like this. She must have gotten dehydrated. I'm gonna take her home. I'll get some ice to cool her down at my house."

"Yeah. Well, good luck. I hope she feels better."

"Thanks." I re-situate her to her previous laying position and head on, getting to my house about ten minutes later and gather her up to carry inside. I really hope that she doesn't remember any of this. She would hate it if she knew she had been laying in my lap and was getting carried around. It was a Saturday and I was lucky my mother wasn't home. She would have beat me on the spot if she knew I was bringing in a seam girl. Dad, however, jumped from his place behind the counter when I brought her in to help. I put her down at the table and she did a better job at sitting upright as I coaxed her into drinking another full glass while my father took off her shoes and jacket in an effort to cool her down. Ten minutes later, she was laying on my bed upstairs with a cold cloth on her head and full cup of ice water beside her on the nightstand.

Rather than have her wake up to me sitting there staring at her like sort sort of creeper, I decided to go back to working in the kitchen. My father had assured me that she would be okay, and even though I was still worried, I knew there wasn't anything else I could really do. I checked on her once every half an hour or so and made her drink more water until, finally, she woke up four hours later and walked down to the kitchen where I was washing pots and pans left over from this morning. I turned around to face her near furious expression.

"Hey. How are you feeling?" I asked, hoping to prevent her from murdering me on the spot. She was a proud person and probably was embarrassed to wake up in the situation she found herself in here. It was completely ridiculous, of course, but that doesn't change how she is.

"I'm fine." Was her tight lipped response. Then, with a sigh, she adds a "thanks" and then "I gotta go."

I put down the pan I'm drying with a cloth and grab the paper bag of cheesebuns I had fixed for her earlier before running out after her through the back. She was walking slower than usual, still probably not at her best, and it was easy to catch up to her. She did her best to ignore me.

"Hey, Katniss. Here." I tried to hand her the bag of cheesebuns. She looked at in and just shook her head.

"I don't need charity. Thank you for your help earlier, but I'm fine now and just going to go home."

"Charity? Katniss, it's not charity, its just a gift. I know you like them. Your father used to come in and buy them for you every once in a while, remember? Cheesebuns?" I had no intention of leaving her until she took them. I needed to make sure she actually ate tonight if she was already this weak. Using her father was a low blow, but right now I don't care. I don't want to find her unconscious anywhere again.

She stopped in her tracks and just stared, seemingly trying to evaluate me or something. I didn't care though, because at least she didn't look mad at me anymore.

I tried to hand them to her again and this time she took them. "Thanks." She muttered as she started back up walking. I kept my pace with her and she looked back at me as if I were some stray dog she couldn't get rid of, following her.

I wanted to walk her home, but it was obvious she wanted nothing more than to be rid of me, so I wished her a safe walk back and turned around. Even though it was years later now, I still can't help thing about how shameful it was...what I did to Katniss, throwing her that bread like she was some sort of animal, as low as the pigs I was supposed to be feeding them to. And I did it with her out there, sitting in the mud against a tree, starving and soaked through in the rain. Two loaves of bread that I burned on purpose and took a beating for. I should have taken another beating and just given it to her. Because I was a coward she will forever hate me. I don't blame her.

I didn't see Katniss again until the fall when school started back up. I was relieved to see that she didn't look any worse for the wear...whatever it was that had gone on with her for the rest of the summer. It took her half a day to get herself into a fight with one of my merchant neighbors over some comment he had made or another. In my experience, it didn't take much to tick Katniss off, especially if anything was said about her family, so who knows what it was. I kept my distance and watched like a hawk for any sign she needed help. The boy, Tom, was easily twice her size and was no stranger to winning fights with other guys he had managed to tick off. His parents ran the mercantile and were one of the best off families in the district. He liked to carry himself with a air that this made him too good to have to go to school with any kids from the seam. I anxiously waited on the tip of my seat from across the room for ten seconds, waiting and unintentionally holding my breath. By the eleventh second, she had put him square on the floor with a bloody nose.

I couldn't help but crack a smile and shake my head at her. He didn't even give her a scratch. She said something to him that I couldn't hear and then quite gracefully stood up and flung her long beautiful braid over her shoulder. I couldn't tear my eyes away until she turned to see me watching her like an idiot and shot me that "go to hell" kind of glare that she was so good at. I pretended not to notice her clear distain at my looking at her and smiled at her until she walked away.


	2. Chapter 2

That fall I saw Katniss's little sister at the festival. Primrose Everdeen was dancing around in her old patched up dress and worn out shoes and looked like a little princess. How old was she now? Eleven...twelve? She looked nothing like Katniss, with her two long blond braids, light skin the same shade as my own, and shining blue eyes. She was very pretty though and it was easy to tell that the boys at school would be fighting over her within another year or two. I stood and watched her skip and dash around for a moment, enjoying the fact that she was obviously having so much fun. I couldn't get over how different from Katniss she was...brooding, dark Katniss with her sharp tongue and sense of carrying the weight of the world. This little girl was so carefree and full of life. I could almost see her innocent happiness radiating off of her like an aura. But then, Primrose was only able to be like that because of Katniss, wasn't she? Katniss had to carry the weight that her depressed, dead beat mother refused to handle and take care of that little girl so Primrose could have her innocence. Primrose was more like Katniss's own baby than just a little sister. If Katniss's father hadn't been killed, would she have been dancing around in an old pink dress at this festival too? Could I have had the opportunity to dance with her?

I don't know how long Katniss stood behind me before I sensed someone was close and turned. She seemed unaware of me and was also watching Primrose dance with just the faintest of smiles on her beautiful face. Unlike Prim, who was beautiful in her youth and innocence, Katniss was beautiful despite everything she had been robbed of. Her olive skin was beautiful despite all the tiny marks and scars that she had from years of hunting in the wild and unforgiving woods outside our district. Her face was beautiful despite the tired look in her eyes and dark circles below them telling me she hadn't been getting enough sleep for some reason. Her grey eyes were beautiful despite everything they had held witness to in her life. Their father had done an unwittingly good job at naming the girls. Little Primrose was like her name, pretty and proper and something someone would want there as a luxury. Katniss was the opposite. She was sturdy and useful...and even though Katniss isn't a plant that someone would plant for it's beauty, it is beautiful if you go out to where it lives in the forest and look for it.

"Are you sweet on my baby sister, Mellark?" A voice from beside me demands.

I startle at it...I hadn't realized that I was still staring. "What? Your sister? No! I mean, ew!" Good job, Peeta, no I've managed to insult her sister. She glares at me as if contemplating whether I deserve a punch in the gut. From her angle I probably do.

"No, I mean, she's very pretty...she's a very pretty little girl. I was just thinking about how different you too are." Great, and now I'm insinuating that Katniss isn't pretty. Jeez...just shut up! "Not that you aren't pretty too. You know I've always thought you are beautiful." I watch as she watches me stumble over myself in a very uncharacteristic manner. Usually, I am much better spoken than this...what is wrong with me? She almost appears to be amused until I get to the part about thinking she is beautiful. Then she just looks confused and obviously doesn't know what to say to me.

Thankfully, I am saved when my father comes up to us and asks if I can man our family's booth for a while so my brother can dance with his fiancee. I nod and thank him. He turns and smiles at Katniss.

"Hello Katniss! How are you doing today?" He asks brightly. He knows good and well that I have been in love with Katniss ever since the day he pointed her out to me at the age of five. He turns and slyly gives me a wink.

"I'm good. How are you?" She responds politely.

"Good, good. Had some real nice squirrel stew last night for supper. But I was hoping you could do me a favor, Katniss."

"What do you need?" She asks, hesitantly. I wonder what he is up to as well.

"Well, my wife is feeling under the weather today and had to stay at home. Nothing serious, but I want to go back and check in on her. Can you help Peeta at the bakery booth for an hour? I'll pay you in a loaf of whatever kind of bread you want and a bag of cookies for you and your sister."

A loaf of bread and six cookies for an hour. Surely, she must know that he was grossly overpaying her. I couldn't help but smile. I love my dad. He really does try to help me out whenever he gets the chance. I had to suppress a chuckle. My mother wasn't even sick, she just wanted to stay home and laze around today. I can almost see the wheels turning in Katniss's head...surely she must know how much he is overpaying her. She isn't stupid.

"I'll be happy to help you, but you need'nt pay so much. Half a loaf is more than fair."

My father just smiled kindly at her and shook his head. "We baked too much for today. We won't be able to sell it all and half of it will end up ruined. Besides" he motioned over to Primrose, who was still happily dancing out in the crowd of school children "do you really want to deny her a little treat? She's growing up fast you know."

I watched Katniss grimace at his last comment and then nod in agreement. "Alright, thanks."

"Thank you. Alright Peeta, I'm going to head home then. You just follow Peeta; he knows what to do." I watched my dad walk away and turned to Katniss.

"Come on." I motioned for her to follow as I walked over to the booth at the other side of the fair to relieve Rye and his fiancee, Emily. Rye gave me a questioning glance when he noticed Katniss, but was smart enough not to comment about the situation in front of her. I knew that he had probably been expecting dad to come back with me. Still, neither of them could get out of that booth and out to the festival fast enough and soon I was left with an awkward Katniss standing a few feet away looking at the dirt.

A customer came up and ordered some Cranberry nut bread and handled it. Katniss still just stood there. It was obvious she was waiting on me to give her directions, but honestly there just wasn't anything for her to really do. Even when a long line formed a few minutes later I easily could have handled it by myself. Still, we wordlessly managed to form a system to speed things along even farther. She would collect and count the money from the customers as there were only a few different prices and that bit was fairly straightforward and I would collect the goods for them and package it up. Forty five minutes into working together we still had not exchanged one single word, but I could smell the woodsy smell in her hair and got to enjoy watching her work so closely. Every time I look at her she is more beautiful.

After the last customer had come and gone and the festival was staring to wind down, I went to the back table to gather up her payment.

"What sort of bread and cookies do you like?" I asked her, sorely wishing I had more time before I had to let her go.

She came up behind me. "What kinds do you have left?" She asked from very, very close behind me. I turned to look at her, my back pressed against the table holding all the left over goods. We had a good business day, but I was lucky in that there was just one or two of each of the breads left. She could choose whatever she liked. I tried to think of which was the most fattening or nutritious.

"Um, we still have at least one of each. You can get whatever you want...cranberry nut bread, raisin nut bread, plain wheat, zucchini..." I tried to list everything.

"Raisin nut." She stated. Immediately, my mind traveled back to the day I tossed the bread to her before. One of those was raisin nut. Secretly, it made me happy to know that she at least got something she liked. I nodded to her and packaged up the bread securely in paper and then went over to the cookies.

"What about the cookies, you want chocolate chip, sugar, walnut.." I list all ten varieties. I watched her eyebrows raise, as if she was surprised about something. "What?" I ask, curious.

"I just didn't realize there were so many types." She states.

I smile "here." I take one of each and tie them into bread paper since they wouldn't all fit into a cookie bag. I would simply tell my mother I dropped the other four if she said anything. She could hit me if she wanted.

"No, no. That's okay. Your father was already overpaying me." She states with a guilty tone.

I wasn't about to let her leave with anything less than all ten though. She would split all of them with her sister and then probably give half of her share to her mother anyway and wouldn't end up with much of anything. I wanted her to go home and have a proper meal. Winter would be coming up soon and when it did there would be very little game. She need every calorie she could get. Feeling bold, I reach out and touch her shoulder. I can tell she is uncomfortable, but she doesn't flinch away.

"Please, Katniss. Just don't be so stubborn." I need to make her understand. _Please._ I look at her. I'm met with a look of bewilderment.

"Why do you care, Peeta?" She asks, her tone somewhere between offended and apologetic.

I look her square in the eye, unable to answer her verbally but almost certain she could understand if she would just look. She took a step backwards, but didn't refuse the cookies when I tried to hand them to her again. For a moment, she just stood there with my hand still touching her upper arm and then she was gone. As usual, I watched her walk away to collect her sister and then watched them head in the direction of their little shack, already sharing one of the cookies I had packaged for her until they disappeared over the hill. Just before they walked out of sight, though, for the briefest of moments, I could've sworn Katniss turned her head back to me and smiled.


	3. Chapter 3

The next morning after the festival, I woke to the noise of my mother stomping around downstairs and the usual sounds of the bakery as the morning bread was fired in the ovens. Yawning, I rolled out of bed and opened the shutters from my room to the outside. It was beginning to get chilly, so I almost stepped back to get a sweater before I saw her walking across the dusty road in her usual route to the woods. It was the first time I had seen her on her way out there for months, but usually I was already working by this time. Today, it was my turn to have Sunday off, so I had slept in. She looked beautiful as always in her oversized leather jacket and long braid thrown over her right shoulder and snaking down her curvy chest.

I desperately hoped for her that she would bring back a full bag of game today. I wanted to have an excuse to see her again and she always came to trade her squirrels with my dad whenever she was able to kill any. My thoughts on the subject were interrupted, however, when my dad came to knock softly on my door.

"Peeta? Are you awake, son?" His voice held an unusual tone of urgency and I wondered why.

"Yeah" I answered as I finished buckling my belt and began lacing my shoes. He cracked the door open with a solemn face. "I just saw Katniss Everdeen heading towards the woods."

"I know." I stated, wondering what he was getting at. Dad cleared his throat uncomfortably and then went to scratch his neck. "You might want to go stop her. I spoke with Mr. Undersee yesterday and he told me, in confidence, that there would be a surprise inspection today."

My head immediately snapped up to look him in the eye at the word "inspection". That meant that they would turn the fence back on...she could get electrocuted or trapped outside the boundary alone. Before there was time for another word I shot out the door towards the woods with one shoe still unlaced and no jacket. The air was cold and I hadn't taken the time to tuck in my shirt or comb my hair, so I knew I looked odd as I ran. Luckily for me there weren't really a lot of people out yet. It took me several minutes to get to the fence and, by then, she had already headed out into the woods.

I listened closely to the fence just in case, though I knew Katniss had just gone through it minutes ago, before picking a good place to cross. Just as I was about to pull up the wire to step through, I heard the hum of the wires coming alive. _Damn it! _

"Katniss! Katniss!" I called over and over into the woods as I mentally prayed that she could hear me. She didn't. I sat down near where I knew she came in and out and took in a big breath at the thought of waiting here for her all day. I couldn't leave...what if she didn't realize the fence was on and got electrocuted? _Damn damn damn_. How would she get back on this side? What if the inspectors caught her? They would execute anyone caught leaving the district and lash poachers- not that she was really hunting anything exotic. _Damn. _

Three hours into waiting there and she still hadn't returned. My mind began to wonder how Katniss managed shouldering the burden she did everyday...what would Katniss do when her sister grew up and no longer needed Katniss to take care of her? Would she get married? Would it be to Gale? Would he be able to take care of her right on his coal miner's salary? I didn't like the idea, even though I knew it was the most likely scenario. Finally, she reappeared through the trees...just as a peacekeeper I didn't recognize spotted me sitting near the fence and probably looking suspicious. _Okay...don't panic_... I immediately begin to start calling into the forest towards Katniss.

"Here girl! Come here!" I whistled a few times for good effect and then turned to the peacekeeper as if just now realizing his presence and painted a relieved look on my face. "Oh thank goodness Mr. Peacekeeper! I'm so glad to see you here! My dog...she's dug a hole under the wiring and ran into the woods!" I holler the words over to him, acting like a stupid child on purpose rather than walking closer and just praying that I had hollered everything loud enough for Katniss to hear and know to hide.

The peacekeeper came over as I continued to call out and whistle for my pretend dog, a pathetic childish expression forced onto my face for good measure. "How did the dog get through the fence? It is kept electrified, correct?" His tone left no doubt about the consequences to the entire district if he found out otherwise.

I vigorously nodded, knowing that if any capital inspector found out it was basically never kept on Gale and Katniss's hunting would be over and a lot of people would starve. "Yes, but she dug a hole, see?" I point to the small hole I had started to dig a little earlier before realizing the futility of it. I start hollering all over again loudly and close to the man's ear. He quickly backed away.

"Good luck with your dog kid. Make sure that hole is fixed before you leave, understand?" He added sharply as an afterthought before walking away. I waited until he was far away and out of sight before going back to where Katniss usually crossed. She wasn't there, so she must have got my warning. I let out a breath of relief I hadn't realized I had been holding.

"Katniss?" I called softly, still not wanting to take any chances. After a few moments, I saw her peek out just barely from behind a tree. "It's okay." I said and she came on and ran up to the wire. "Careful!" I called to her as she got closer. I didn't want to take any chances of her misunderstanding and electrocuting herself. "The fence is on. They're inspecting today."

She nodded and looked around, clearly trying to figure out how to get back over. "Pass your bag through really carefully." I say, wanting to get rid of as much incriminating evidence as possible as quickly as possible in case the peacekeeper came back.

"Peeta..." She started and then seemed to change her mind as she passed the bag to me very carefully between the live wires.

"Go hide...I'll be back." I said, taking the game bag and running back to the bakery. My dad was at the open kitchen window before I approached and reached out to take the bag from me before I even had a chance to ask or say anything to him. I knew he understood the predicament and wanted to help or else I would have never known to try to warn her. As soon as he had it, he walked away for a moment and then came back with a long old rope we used with the livestock.

"Be careful, son. They will lash you if they see...and her too..." _I love my dad. _

I nodded. "I will. Thanks dad." There was no time to say anything before I ran back through the meadow to the fence where Katniss was still trapped.

I looked around for a while before I risked calling out for her quietly. Nothing. I walked down the fence and continued to look. She had be here somewhere...unless she had already figured out how to cross...but surely she would have found me to let me know, right? "Katniss?" I called softly again and again until I heard the rustle of some leaves up high in one of the trees to my right. I looked up to her staring down at me from her precariously balanced position on a branch about twenty feet up.

Wordlessly, I tossed one side of the rope up to her...almost. I tried again and this time she caught it. "Be careful!" I called up, after looking around one more time.

"I will." She tells me as she crouches down on the branch and grips the rope tightly before leaning down and literally putting her life in my hands. I held onto the rope as tightly as I could as she struggled to climb down, fighting the rope's will to slip and embracing the burning sensation I felt in my fingers and palm. She was still about ten feet up when I spotted the peacekeeper walking across the field again. He hadn't seen us yet from what I could tell, but I figured I had about a second and a half- tops- before it was inevitable. Immediately, I let go of the rope and took a quick step forward. She wasn't even in my arms for a second before I pried the rope from her hands, plopped down with her in my lap, and threw my arms around her just as the peacekeeper looked our way.

"She's never coming back, is she?" I fake wailed as loudly as I could, waving around the rope as if it were a leash. Katniss pulled me in closer and rubbed my back consolingly...she must have caught on already. I tried to muster up fake tears unsuccessfully for a moment before I began to hear the peacekeeper's boots crunch the leaves as he approached us. "What if she gets electrified? Who will sleep at the foot of my bed at night?" I wail even louder. Katniss moves her hand to the back of my head and continues to rub the skin, running her fingers through my short hair soothingly. Her calloused fingers raised goosebumps on my skin and I committed the feeling of them to memory. She had no idea how much I wished for an excuse to do the same to her.

"You still haven't found your dog, huh?" The man bends down to ask sympathetically in a voice that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand... there was still no delusioning myself out of knowing what he would do to me...or worse, do to Katniss if he had any inclination of our real purpose for being here. The picture in my head of him dragging her away to the square...of her getting whipped...it just wasn't something I could stand to comprehend. My grasp on her grew tighter. "Don't forget to fill that hole in, kid. Wouldn't want anyone getting the idea that they can cross the fence through it. I'm sure I don't have to tell you the punishment for that." He leered.

I began to wonder if he had seen us and was simply trying to scare us into a confession before the whippings began. I stood up and pulled Katniss with me to immediately fill the shallow hole in. If he had looked at it closely at all, it would have been obvious that no dog could have fit through it, so I moved slowly in hopes he wouldn't bother staying to watch. By the time we had stood up and began to move that way, I noticed the reason he hadn't seen the hole...he was too busy watching Katniss. As she turned and unintentionally gave him a good look at her figure, his eyes were glued to her body. As she bent over to help cover the shallow hole my "dog" had dug I made sure to stay directly behind her to block any view of her backside he would have and I then stayed very, very close. I had heard stories of peacekeepers and their deals with district women and I didn't want him to get any ideas about throwing charges onto Katniss for anything he thought he could make her "work off". Finally, after the hole had been covered and I had helped Katniss back up, I realized that he wasn't going to leave first. Rather than stand there and let whatever thoughts that were going through his head happen undisturbed, I simply took Katniss's had and nodded him goodbye before leading her back towards town.

Whatever she was thinking, she allowed me to keep hold of her hand as we walked back and made no attempt to move away, even though I kept very, very close to her as we walked...mostly because I wanted to make it clear to the peacekeeper that she was taken, but also because it was hard to move away from her now that I had gotten the chance to have her so close. She smelled like the woods...fresh air and dirt and pine needles. We walked back that way silently for a quarter of a mile before either one of us dared to say anything.

"Thank you for saving my neck back there. Prim really loved those cookies you sent last night." She commented, trying to sound casual about it even though the strain in her voice was obvious. It was hard for her to need anyone's help and I was well aware of it. I wanted her to keep her pride.

"Good. I'm glad." I answer in an equally fake casual tone, feeling a little embarrassed at my fake crying over my fake dog. I still haven't let go of her hand yet and we walk in the direction of the bakery.

"Why were you at the fence though?" She asks, stopping to turn and look at me in a serious manner.

I can feel my face beginning to blush. "Honestly, when I found out there was an inspection today my first thought was to make sure you weren't in the woods." She abruptly lets go of my hand and I let it drop to my side noncommittally.

"Why? What about the bakery?"

I grin at her cluelessness. At what point was she going to figure out that all of my thoughts centered around her? If she ever does, she'd probably go running the other way. Still, I had to at least make sure she was safe. "The bakery is fine. Besides, I'm off work today. My dad has your game bag back home. Come on." I motion with my newly freed hand to the bakery in hopes she will follow me there.

She does, and we walk the rest of the way back to the bakery silently until I see my dad standing at the door, holding it open to us. I smile at him as I walk up onto the porch and he pats me on the shoulder and winks as I pass him.

"Katniss." He nods to her and she gives him a sweet, genuine smile. "I'm glad to see you're alright. Your bag is up in Peeta's room."

"Thank you sir." She replied sweetly to him as she walked through as well. I knew she was comfortable with my father. They traded a lot and he made sure to always be kind to her. Wordlessly, we walked up to my room and I sat down on my bed, looking at her in wonder and trying to remind myself that the only reason she is in my room is to get her things. I watch her as she walks around though, looking at my bed and desk and...oh no...the drawing of her I made years ago pinned to the wall over my books. _ Great_. I didn't know what to say as she went over and inspected it.

"You drew this?" She asked.

I nod dumbly.

"It's really good. Who is it of?" She asks. I huge sense of relief floods my body and I finally relax before tensing up all over again.

"It's just this girl..." I say vaguely.

"She's pretty." She comments and I have to hold back a laugh.

"Yes, she's very pretty...the drawing doesn't really do her justice, honestly." I tell her truthfully, looking strait into her eyes.

Her gaze drops down to her feet and when she looks up at me again her expression was almost shy...it looked so foreign on her usually confident face, but it was also the cutest look I had ever seen. I couldn't tell whether she was about to say anything...it looked as though she herself hadn't made up her mind yet. Finally, she let out in a soft, low, desperate tone "why do you keep doing that?" without meeting my eyes.

"Doing what?" I ask, bewildered and relieved that she hadn't managed to find a reason to be angry with me for helping her back over the fence.

"You keep...saving me. Why?" She started off with a small, timid voice, but by the time she got to asking me _why _it was back to her usual forceful, confident anger. I don't know what to tell her and just stare into her grey blue eyes, willing her to understand without me having to mess up an explanation. That doesn't happen, but she does push me down until I fall backwards onto my bed. I simply watch as she grabs up her gamebag and slings it over her right shoulder.

"Katniss! Don't go. They might see you out there with that bag! The inspectors already came by here earlier while we were out. They won't come back again. Stay." I implore her. _Please, please stay_.

"Katniss!" I stand up as she ignores me and makes a turn to leave.

"I'll be careful." She says flippantly as she tosses back a squirrel and walks out the door.


	4. Chapter 4

Katniss POV

No matter how I tried to ignore it, the shiver that ran down my body betrayed me as I stormed out of Peeta's family's bakery, leaving nothing but a squirrel behind as an insufficient payment to all the debt I owed them. It would have been laughable if it weren't so damned pathetic. This morning was just one more time that Peeta had to rescue me. How many times did this make it? Three? Four? Why did he do these things? Why did it always have to be him? Every time I got myself into trouble there he was, the fair haired merchant boy who was too kind hearted for his own good. Did he not understand that I had no way to pay him back? Did he notice the debt he kept piling onto my shoulders until I was drowning in it? What was I supposed to do? What did he want from me?

I didn't make it ten feet outside the bakery before I almost ran into a peacekeeper and had to turn back around to avoid being caught. When I huffed back onto the porch, keeping my eyes at my feet and skin flush from humiliation, Peeta had the door opened for me before I even reached for the knob.

I was rude, he showered me in kindness, I was even more rude, and then he was even kinder...this is how the cycle with us went. When would he just give up acting as such a gentlemen and understand that I am not worthy of the effort? He didn't even look angry at me as I moped back inside and he quickly lifted the burden of the game bag from my shoulders and put it onto his own. His sweet eyes looked at me adoringly as he motioned for me to follow him back upstairs and it was all I could do to keep from punching him. Maybe that would make him realize exactly what I was.

"Keep the game." I tell him, even though it would mean going hungry for several days with just the bread and cookies to ration between my mother and sister. I had a good hunt earlier, bagging six squirrels, two rabbits, and a wild turkey. I had already given Peeta one of the squirrels but that didn't begin to cover anything he had done...maybe all the game would at least repay today...but no...what he did today was too risky for that even. If he had been caught they would have punished him as severely as me...a brutal lashing if we were lucky...death if we were not.

He shakes his head no and I begin to feel even more desperate. "I don't have any way to repay you." I finally say without meeting his eyes, feeling more ashamed in that moment than I have in my entire life. I'm sure my whole body had turned the color of a tomato by now and find myself kicking my foot at the corner of an old rug on the floor. Then I feel something warm on my chin, gently forcing my face up until its pointed closer to his. I flick my eyes up and back down to the floor a few times, knowing that he is staring at me...and then finally man up enough to meet his gaze.

His voice carries a heavy, important tone when he speaks slowly and clearly the words "I don't care." His clear blue eyes sparkle and, even though he is being very serious at the moment it is clear that he is very happy about something. I have no idea what he could be happy about.

"Peeta, just tell me. No one is this nice. What do you want from me?" I ask and am surprised when my voice comes out in no more than a whisper. Peeta places his hand back at my face, this time caressing my cheek and then running his fingers down my long braid. It wasn't what I was expecting, but I don't move to stop him.

I hear him let out a shaky breath and quickly lean his face forward until he is suddenly kissing me. His lips are warm and soft and sweet and gentle on my own and I am so confused but they feel so good on my lips and I should stop this but he smells like sweet rolls and cinnamon and I don't know what to do. Then, suddenly and way before I figure out how to deal with the situation, he ends it and then he's looking at me like...like...I don't even know. It was sort of like the expression I would use with Prim when she was doing something adorable...but it wasn't the same at the same time... Then it hit me. Peeta just...Peeta just kissed me...on the lips...like a man would a girlfriend or a wife. _Huh._

"Was that okay that I did that?" He asked, his tone growing more nervous with every word. _Umm..._

I stare at him dumbly. "I'm never getting married." I throw the words out like an idiot. It was the only thought running through my head that made sense to me. I had said the same thing to Gale once even...though not after being kissed by him. It had to be the most presumptuous statement I had ever made in my life. How did I go from a simple kiss to thinking of marriage? A range of emotions passed through his face...ending with a look of disappointment. Did Peeta actually want to marry me? What was going on?

"That's too bad." He finally says, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"You can have anyone..." I respond automatically, trying to make him feel better. He could...he could have any girl in district twelve...almost.

"Apparently not." Was his only response. I bite my lip, not wanting to upset the sweet boy in front of me who had never done anything but go out of his way to be kind. What should I do? I still couldn't even process the idea that he had those feelings for me...much less figure out what I felt for him. It didn't matter though because I wasn't getting married and Peeta wasn't the type to...to...

"Why do you even want me...you could get better...a lot better...not from the seam."

He swallowed and then firmly shook his head at this. "I know who I want. It's always been you. It's you or no one."

_Damn. _I just stand there...what do you say to something like that? Peeta Mellark...the baker's son...a merchant...the sweet boy who was always looking out for me...wants to marry me. Peeta wants to marry me. Peeta...wants...me.

I remain frozen and the next thing I know Peeta's lips are back on mine again and his arms are around my waist and he is holding me to him and this is a really, really bad idea...and then I notice that I'm kissing him back and his tongue is running over my lips and I open my mouth a little and he kisses me deeper and he is really, really good at this and I don't have anything to compare it to and I don't know why I'm kissing him and there is a noise behind us and-

"Mom!" Peeta practically jumps when he sees her standing there at the door. We barely even have time to separate all our limps from each other before his mom is there, slapping her hand across his face so hard I know it will leave a bruise. I watch as Peeta instinctually moves in front of me, blocking the awful woman's ability to reach me, and then just lets it happen. He pushes me back a little further in a clear attempt at putting more distance between his mother's blows and me as soon as the sound of the first slap rings sharply through the air and it is clear that she was going to hit him again. The look on her face is one of pure rage and I understand exactly why. She didn't want her son to be with a seam rat. Seeing Peeta kissing me made her so angry that she was willing to beat him over it.

As her hand slices through the air towards Peeta's face again, I throw mine up as well, grabbing her arm before it reaches her target and twisting it until her entire body is forced down to a kneeling position on the floor to alleviate some of the pressure.

"You little seam bitch!" She screams at me, rage evident in her voice and eyes even as her face contorts in pain from her arm. Instead of letting go I twist it just slightly harder.

"You get OUT of my house!"

"You listen to me!" I find myself demanding "You better never, EVER lay a finger on Peeta like that again or I swear my arrows will find their way through your eyes just as sure as they do in the squirrels your husband buys from me! Ask him if I ever miss my target." I twist one more notch harder to be sure I get the message across before I let her go and take a step back towards Peeta. By this time I can see Mr. Mellark and one of Peeta's older brothers reaching the doorway of Peeta's room to see what was happening.

"Peeta is kindest person that I have ever met and the last thing that he or his father deserves is to have to put up with you. They might be too kind to to fight you back but I'm sure as hell not." I finally stop screaming at her even though I still saw red. _How dare she?_ I don't know what Peeta or the rest of his family is going to think of what I had just done.

I grab Peeta's arm and pull him past his mother and the rest of his stunned family who had crowded in the doorway and then down the stairs and out the back door. "Are you okay?" I ask him even though I can already see where the side of his face was beginning to swell.

He nods, still wearing the same stunned look at the rest of his family had upstairs. I wondered if he was going to be angry with me...not that I would take back what I did even if he were.

"She won't hit you again." I tell him in a tone that is more of a threat to her than a reassurance to him as my fingers find their way to the darkening, swollen part of his face. He smiles when I touch his skin, even though the skin there had to still be stinging.

"Katniss-"

"I'm not going to marry you." I tell him firmly, feeling the need to remind him...and maybe even myself as well. This was only doing what was right...repaying some small debt. The butterflies in my stomach were only because it was my first kiss...they would go away soon.

He gives me a small sad smile as he looks into my eyes and takes my hand. I allow it and then I see a bigger grin creep onto his face as he said that "if you did, I promise we wouldn't have to live with my mom."

I manage to hold a serious face for all of half a second before with both bust into laughter and I lean forward to give him a quick peck on the cheek before shaking my head and just laughing all over again.


	5. Chapter 5

Peeta's POV

I had been unable to stop smiling for two days now and even as I tried to consciously remove it from my face as I walked along the whitewashed fences on the street in front of my house on my way to school, an extra sugar cookie in my pack for Primrose. Every time I closed my eyes I could see Katniss and even almost feel her kissing me again. Over ten years of my dreaming of her had finally come at least partially true. I had kissed her and instead of murdering me as I had often imagined she would had I attempted, she had kissed me back. Twice. She had even kissed me on the cheek afterward. Of course, she had also told me, very seriously, that she was never getting married and...more specifically, that she wasn't going to marry me. But didn't that also mean she wasn't going to marry Gale?

I shook my head, still grinning like an idiot as I walked along. Either way, I had kissed Katniss Everdeen...and it was better than anything I could have ever imagined. I wondered if she knew how much it had meant to me? If she knew that I would marry her in a minute if she ever consented? After all, she seemed to know how willing I was when she felt the need to bring up the subject...and it had to have been a pretty good kiss for her too if it drudged up thoughts of marriage so immediately.

I would never forget the look on my mother's face when Katniss told her what she would do if she found out mom hit me again. Me and both of my brothers had laughed about it so hard that night in our room she had kicked us outside the house for waking her up...but she didn't lay a finger on anyone. Rye was convinced that she was too scared of Katniss to touch anyone...she hadn't even so much as pointed a finger in any of our directions again since that day. I myself thought that the fear she had was probably appropriate for her. I didn't put it past Katniss at all to go through with her threat after seeing the way she had looked at my mother. All those times I had thought she had been mad at me...well, those looks were warm and fluffy in comparison.

I still wondered why she didn't want to get married. Perhaps she thought a husband would be too controlling of her? Maybe she didn't want a family or maybe she thought the family she was already having to shoulder the burden of carrying for was enough for one lifetime. I hoped that wasn't the case. I had no doubt Katniss was make a wonderful mother from how I had see her treat Primrose and even the fiercely protective way she had acted on my behalf against my own mother. God help anyone who ever threatened any children she ever produced.

She ignored me at school that day...which didn't surprise me. I still gave Primrose her cookie at lunch and she sat on the wall outside and happily ate it.

"Do you like my sister?" She asked, still chewing, her big blue eyes on the remainder of the sugar cookie.

I grinned and answered honestly. "Yes."

She laughed happily. "I think she likes you too because she's always turning red whenever anyone mentions the bakery in front of her."

"Really?" I grinned wider and handed her half of my roll. She needed it more than I did anyway. Despite Katniss's efforts, the poor kid was stick skinny and still trying to grow.

"Thanks!" She exclaimed, acting as though she thought she had hit the jackpot as she ate and swung her long skinny little legs back on forth over the edge of the half way where she sat. "You know, Mama said that no decent man would ever marry her because she's too dark and manly but I told her that you wanted to."

I felt my palms get a little sweaty in my pockets at the thought of little Primrose telling Ms. Everdeen that I wanted to marry her daughter. What if she didn't approve? What if she thought it too awkward after all the history she had with my father? Did Katniss know about this? Is that why she was so quick to turn down my yet to be offered proposal? If the young girl sensed my nervousness, she didn't show it. I got the feeling that she was much too into enjoying her roll to notice much of anything.

"What did your mom say to that?" I prodded, dying of curiosity and nervousness on the inside, even though I knew that it was a bit low to be sneaking information from Katniss's baby sister.

"She said that Katniss was probably too much of a handful for a sweet boy like you to handle, but she wished you would so we wouldn't be so hungry all the time-" Her little body suddenly tensed and she stopped quickly as if just realizing that she had said something she shouldn't have. Her eyes grew wide and she looked at me a little fearfully.

I rustled her hair a little. "Don't worry, kid. It's okay...and, listen, there are extra cookies at the bakery all the time. You feel free to stop by anytime you want for one on the house."

She smiled and nodded. "Yep." She giggled. "My mom's right. You are too sweet for Katniss." As her gaze shifted from me to the figure on the other side of the room, I followed it to a glaring older sister and snorted out a laugh, waving to her.

The next day at school Katniss ignored me again...and also the day after that and the entire following week as well. It took her until the last day before winter holidays to come near me again, right as everyone was about to head home. When she did, I couldn't tell whether it was to kiss me or throw a punch and, going from her warring facial expressions, I'm not sure she did either.

"My family has insisted that I start being nice to you." She said finally, looking angry and a little defeated.

I chuckled out a smile. "Does that mean you'll marry me now?" I asked, only half joking.

She rolled her eyes. "I'm not going to marry you, Peeta." She droned out as if it were something she had already been forced to repeat a hundred time rather than just the once.

"Yeah." I scratched the hairline at the back of my neck. "I just figured I'd try."

"Has your mother hit anyone again since I was over?" She asked, clearly trying to change the subject.

I shook my head. "No, I think you've put a stop to that. She hasn't laid a finger on anyone yet, not even when she caught Rye sneaking out the window to see his girlfriend the other night. She got right close too and then right when she raised up her arm to hit him, Rye just stood there and smirked and pretended to shoot an imaginary arrow at her and she stomped right on out of the room!" I finished, laughing. Rye and I had been chuckling about it ever since and dad has been in the best mood I've seen him in years.

"Good." She managed to say through clenched teeth. Did the thought of my mom hitting us really make her that angry?

My gaze fell on her long pretty braid in hanging down in front of her shoulder and, without thinking, I reached forward to play with the end of it. She watched me with a clearly confused expression, but didn't slap my hand away as I fiddled with the silky brown strands. After a minute, my hand traveled down deliberately until it reached hers and she let me take hold of it as we began walking and I knew, somehow, that I would convince her. Katniss would marry me, someday, on her own terms, and- whatever they were- I would meet them all eagerly.


End file.
